{
  "id": 15337334,
  "title": "EU AI Act: your chatbot has to say it is AI - and 2 December ends the marking grace period",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/eu-ai-act-your-chatbot-has-to-say-it-is-ai-and-2-december-ends-the",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-18T02:57:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/shuttlewright/eu-ai-act-your-chatbot-has-to-say-it-is-ai-and-2-december-ends-the-marking-grace-period-14p7"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On 2 August, the EU AI Act came into force, mandating that any product engaging with EU users disclose its AI nature - either before or during the first interaction. This includes chatbots, AI-generated text, images, audio, and video. Deepfakes must also carry a visible disclosure label. If a system was already on the market prior to the Act's implementation, the deadline for completing the disclosure requirements is 2 December 2026. Non-compliance can result in penalties up to 3% of a company's global turnover. The Act applies to software-as-a-service (SaaS) founders creating chat features, AI content tools, onboarding bots, support agents, and any other product an EU user might interact with. Notably, merely having an EU office does not exempt a company, as the Act follows the user, not the headquarters location. To ensure compliance, companies should map every AI feature interacting with users, add appropriate disclosure copy at the right point - usually at the first interaction for chatbots or visible labels for deepfakes. Generated content must be marked in a machine-readable way, although the exact technical standard is still being finalized and requires documentation of an interim approach. Companies are advised to keep records of disclosures for potential regulator inquiries. Shuttle Wright has created a $29 template pack, including an obligation map, adaptable disclosure wording, and a marking checklist, to assist businesses in meeting these obligations. A free obligation checker is also available on their website for those wishing to assess their current compliance status.",
  "summary": "Since 2 August 2026, Article 50 of the EU AI Act applies to any product that interacts with EU users: Chatbots must disclose they are AI - before or during the first interaction. AI-generated text, image, audio and video must carry a machine-readable mark. Deepfakes need a visible disclosure label. If your system was on the market before 2 August, the grace period for the marking duty ends 2…",
  "key_points": [
    "EU AI Act mandates AI disclosure for chatbots and AI-generated content",
    "2 December 2026 deadline for disclosing existing AI systems",
    "Non-compliance faces penalties up to 3% of global turnover"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Mandating immediate transparency for all AI-driven interactions forces developers to prioritize user disclosure as a core product requirement to avoid significant global turnover penalties from European regulators.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}